«Poche Suisse» comes back to life! Five questions for Pascal Vandenberghe

Payot CEO Pascal Vandenberghe is also president of the new association Swiss Florides. He explains his mission: to promote Switzerland's literary heritage through the «Poche Suisse» collection, acquired from Editions L'Age d'Homme.

A week ago, we learned in Le Temps that Pascal Vandenberghe, director of Payot bookstores, filed a complaint with the Competition Commission (COMCO) against the Madrigall Group, owner of the publishing houses Gallimard and Flammarion, which handles the distribution of French books in Switzerland. The reason for the complaint: excessive price markups, with the same book costing 80% more in Lausanne than in Paris. Pascal Vandenberghe had been trying to reach an agreement for years—to no avail. He has now dropped a bombshell. The fact is, he carries the cause of books and readers in his heart and in his very soul. Here’s yet another piece of evidence: this unclassifiable, self-made anarchist chairs the newly created association «Florides Helvètes,» which has acquired the Poche Suisse collection from Editions L’Age d’Homme and is breathing new life into it with remarkable care.

Le Regard Libre: Taking over a prestigious series like *Poche Suisse* is no small matter. Why did the founding members of the Florides helvètes association decide to do this?

Pascal Vandenberghe: It is the only paperback series with the clear (and unique!) mission of publishing and promoting Swiss literary heritage. It was created in this spirit by Vladimir Dimitrijević in 1978. Since his passing ten years ago, the series had entered a period of stagnation, with few titles published—and, moreover, not all of them were in keeping with the series« »heritage« ethos. The difficulties faced by L’Age d’Homme led us to propose to Andonia, Dimitri’s daughter, that she take over the collection, which she accepted. There were two types of L’Age d’Homme collections that needed to be preserved as a priority: the Slavic collection (the only one of its kind in the French-speaking world), which was secured through its acquisition by Editions Noir sur Blanc and the creation three years ago of the »La bibliothèque de Dimitri« series, directed by Marko Despot; and the »Poche Suisse” series: that’s now taken care of!

What editorial direction have you chosen, and to what extent does it reflect continuity with that of L’Age d’Homme?

Clearly, this marks a «return to the collection’s roots,» with this intangible heritage. The new collection will not simply reprint all the titles from the old one, but will also include titles previously published (including in paperback) by other publishers. This is the case, for example, with the Portrait of the Author as an Ordinary Woman by Anne Cuneo. Nor will these be mere reprints: each book is accompanied by a previously unpublished preface, possibly along with critical notes, and undergoes proofreading and corrections; the collection’s goal is also to offer books that are as perfect as possible.

The association aims to «highlight and promote Switzerland’s literary heritage»: does the focus in Switzerland on contemporary works sometimes overshadow this aspect?

Let’s say instead that the mission of a publisher specializing in large-format first editions is different: its primary purpose is to publish contemporary works, whether they are debut novels or books by established authors. In this case, the «heritage» focus is not a selection criterion. This, however, is a key factor for «Poche Suisse.» This means that, as far as living authors are concerned, the collection will only include new editions of books by writers who have established a body of work, and whose one or more books (for which the rights are available) we deem worthy of inclusion in the catalog. This may apply to «early» works by writers who are now recognized (for example, Etienne Barilier or Jean-Michel Olivier). In any case, the collection will not be positioned as a «competitor» to Swiss publishing houses in the market for first editions in large format.

What role do Alemannic, Ticino, and Romansh literature play—and will continue to play—in your collection?

The answer lies in the list of the first twelve titles published this year, which already includes works from the other three linguistic regions. For Romansh, it seems difficult to schedule more than one or two titles per year (out of twenty), given that the body of work is not very extensive; for Ticino, two to three per year; and for German-speaking authors, between four and six, on average. Moreover, in this case as well, we will be publishing titles by authors who are still very «active» (Alex Capus in January and Matthias Zschokke in May, for example).

Read also | Pascal Vandenberghe: «Books shape critical thinking and citizenship».»

OLF handles broadcasting and distribution in Switzerland. What about other French-speaking countries?

It was a major setback for «Poche Suisse» that L’Age d’Homme no longer had a distributor in France. We were fortunate that Harmonia Mundi Livres (HML) agreed to handle distribution for us «in the rest of the world,» including France, Belgium, and Quebec. HML already distributes several Swiss publishers (Zoé, La Baconnière, La Joie de lire, among others), so it made perfect sense for us to be part of their portfolio. In addition, all titles will be published in digital format (unless a digital edition already exists) and will thus be more easily accessible than the print version for French-speaking readers in more distant countries.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

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